A high-level Chinese official has called for talks with Japan over a disputed island chain, in an apparent attempt by Beijing to cool tensions that have seen both sides scramble jet fighters to the area in recent days.Full story

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's ruling Democratic Party will promise to do its utmost in protecting Japanese territory and putting an end to nuclear power generation by the 2030s, according to draft campaign pledges issued on Tuesday ahead of next month's election. Full story

TOKYO (Reuters) - Three years after Yukio Hatoyama led Japan's Democratic Party to a victory over its long-dominant conservative rival, the former prime minister fears the party he had helped to found has become an ally of the same vested interests it sought to destroy. Full story

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his wife Miyuki pay respect in front of a display of human bones at the Nanjing Massacre Museum during a trip to Nanjing, Jiangsu province January 17, 2013. REUTERS/China Daily (CHINA - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL O

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his wife Miyuki water a tree at the Nanjing Massacre Museum during a trip to Nanjing, Jiangsu province January 17, 2013. Hatoyama was invited by the Chinese people's Institute of Foreign Affairs, the institute confirmed. Japanese news media, includin